A partially submerged rubber raft led to an emergency search of Lily Lake that lasted for several hours before police learned the man had swum ashore the night before.
A witness called LaPorte Police Friday morning, July 25, 2014, and said he had seen a man swimming the raft away from shore in the area of Hawthorne and Lake streets the evening before.
The LaPorte Fire Department used water rescue equipment to retrieve the raft about 75 feet offshore. It contained fishing equipment, a trolling motor, a shoe and crutches, along with a state fishing license issued to a 52-year-old LaPorte man.
City and county police checked the last known address of the man but found no one there.
Then another witness approached police at the lake and said he had seen a man crawl out of the lake the evening before. A short time later a motorist picked him up.
Police eventually tracked down the man’s roommate, who said the man called him the previous night and said he’d capsized the raft. The roommate told police he picked the man up and dropped him off at a residence in LaPorte. Police checked the location, but were unsuccessful in making contact with anyone.
The raft and its contents were transported to the LaPorte Police Department. The man later recovered his property.
The LaPorte County Dive Team also responded to the scene, but did not deploy once it was confirmed that the man was OK.